1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical connectors, especially electrical connectors having female socket members engagable with a pin insertable into the socket and more particularly socket connectors having a housing which permits alignment of the sockets during mating with an array of pins to prevent stubbing of the pins against the sockets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pin and socket connectors and pin and socket terminals provide a highly reliable and economic means of establishing multiple lead connections in computers, computer/peripheral equipment, business machines, appliances, vending machines and other commercial equipment due to their reliability and shock hazard protection features. Pin and socket terminals can be employed to deliver power to electrical components such as small electric motors. Indeed socket terminals can be employed for interconnection to an array of pins permanently mounted to an electrical component, such as a conventional electric motor in which the pins are located in an integral header housing on the exterior of the electric motor casing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,220 discloses a pin and socket electrical connector employing socket terminals of the type suitable for use in delivering power to an electrical component. The pin and socket connector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,220 employs stamped and formed socket terminals and stamped and formed pin terminals. The stamped and formed socket terminals disclosed therein, however, are generally suitable for use with other types of pins including solid pins which may be employed to deliver power to an electrical component such as a small electric motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,567 discloses another pin and socket connector employing receptacle terminals having an outwardly deflectable lance which engages a shoulder on a wall of a housing cavity when the socket terminal is inserted within a housing. In the pin and socket connectors shown in that patent, the contact portion of the sockets which engages the pin is located within cylindrical towers of silos which completely encircle the socket. The mating ends of these socket terminals are fully accessible and a mating pin can engage or stub the outer end of such socket terminals upon mating. Some lateral movement of both the pins and the sockets is possible, however, thus rendering stubbing problem insignificant for a connector of this type. Furthermore, the dimensions of the pin and socket connectors depicted in that patent can be mutually controlled so that misalignment is not a problem.
Misalignment of pins mounted in a header of an electric motor, however, can result in problems when a separate connector is used to establish the interconnection. The assembly of pins, for example a ground pin and two power pins, to an electrical component, such as an electric motor, is part of the motor assembly and, therefore, the precise side-to-side spacing of the pins may not be sufficiently controlled to avoid the stubbing problem when a multi-contact electrical connector is used. Therefore, the instant invention includes a pin aligning portion of each passage in which the socket housings are positioned. The minimum diameter of this pin aligning portion is less than the outer diameter of the socket so that the ends of the sockets will be at least partially covered. When a suitable chamfer is used in this constricted pin aligning portion of each passage, the pins and the sockets are free to move during mating so that stubbing of the pins against the ends of the socket contacts can be easily avoided. This constricted portion of the instant invention is possible because the connector housing is constructed using a side entry mold which leaves an opening in the side of one or more passages in the housing. Thus, a contact retention shoulder can be defined at one end of this lateral opening and the constricted pin entry portion can be molded at the other end when a core pin is withdrawn at right angles to the movement of a mold piece in the side entry mold defining the lateral opening.
Although some electrical connectors represented by the following patents employ housing passages which are at least partially open along the side, none of these disclose a connector in which these open side passages are used to permit definition of a constricted pin entry portion in a one piece housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,542 discloses an electrical connector in which a wedge bar is inserted into the front of the housing in which at least a portion of the wedge bar defines the contact lining entry of the connector. Note, however, that this connector employs a separate member which must be assembled after the terminals have been inserted into the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,523 similarly employs a spacer which can be inserted into the mating end of the connector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,959 discloses a pull to seat electrical connector in which each terminal receiving passage is open along one side to permit lateral insertion of a wire before the electrical terminal is pulled into the housing through the mating face. Note, however, that this connector does not employ pin aligning at the mating end of the connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,035 discloses a multi-position electrical connector in which a side entry molding process is employed to define openings in the side of the insulative connector housing communiccable with the cavities in which the terminals are received. These laterally extending openings are employed to provide a shoulder against which an outwardly deflectable lance engages after the contact is inserted into the housing. Note, however, that the pin aligning adjacent to the mating edge is not molded by the combined action of a side entry mold piece and a reciprocal core pin. The pin alignment portion of that housing is simply defined by two reciprocal core pins since the rear of the contact receiving passage shown in that patent is unobstructed.